Machine for boxing matches.



MACHINE FOR BOXING MATCHES.

APPLIGATION FILED MAR. 22, 1904.

j ,39 INVENTOR.

I VITJVESSES: if Wm; a um 1 y UNTTEn STATES Patented January 17, 1905.

PATENT EEIcE.

WILLIAM H. PARKER, OF PASSAIO, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO DIXIE MATCHCOMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR BOXING MATCHES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 780,657, dated January17,1905.

Application filed March 22, 1904;- Serial No.199A53.

To all whom it nuty concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. PARKER, of Passaic, in the county ofPassaic and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and ImprovedMachine for Boxing Matches, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of machines which areadapted to release matches from a coil, and particularly a coil wherethey are held in contact with each other, and deliver them into boxesready for insertion in the ordinary shucks or wrappers of commerce.

The object of my invention is to produce a Very simple machine foraccomplishing the above purpose and to construct the machine so that thesplints will be delivered nicely to the boxes and so that the belt ofthe coil will be left in condition to use over again.

To these ends my invention consists of certain features of constructionand combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described andclaimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures of reference indicatecorresponding parts in both the views.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view, partly in elevation, of themachine embodying my invention, showing a match-coil in position to beunloaded and the boxes ready to receive the matches; and Fig. 2 is adetail crosssection through the tray or box carrying belt and shows inbroken elevation the chute through which the matches are delivered tothe boxes.

The machine-frame 10 may be of any usual kind, and its upper parts haveon opposite sides slots 11, which for convenience are horizontal andwhich can be closed by a latch 12, having a spring-catch 13. Thisarrangement is to provide for easily placing in the slots and securingthere the shaft 14, which carries the ordinary center 15, on which iscarried the coil 16. Obviously this particu lar arrangement for carryingthe coil is not essential, as any convenient means can be substituted.The coil is made up of the center 15, the belt 17, and the matches 18,which are rolled up in the belt. The slots 11 are to provide for thenecessary movement of the coil, as it must travel back and forth toadapt itself to the chute 28, to be hereinafter referred to. In orderthat the movement of the coil may be easy and at proper tension, theshaft 14% is hung in the upper forked ends 20 of the bell-crank levers19, which are pivoted at 21 and provided with suitable counterbalancingweights 22. flfn the drawingsrl have shown but one slot 11. andbell-crank lever 19; but it will be understood that these parts occur onboth sides of the machine. IVhen the belt 17 is unwound from the coil16, it is rewound upon a center 23, which is carried on a convenicntshaft 24, and the latter is driven by a belt 25, connecting with a shaft26, and the latter can be driven in any suitable way. As the belt 17 isunwound it passes beneath a guide bar or roller 27, which is arranged atthe mouth of an inclined chute 28, so that as the belt passes beneaththe bar the matches 18 are caught by the chute and directed downwardthrough it. It will be noticed that the chute is open on the sides, sothat the matchheads cannot come in contact with anything, and they aretherefore not likely to be ignited. It will also be observed that thematches and chute are arranged in such a way that the matches are inclose contact at all times, so that they really form a continuous web.It is important that this arrangement should be preserved, because ifthe splints are spaced apart and then placed loosely in the chute theyare likely to become choked or otherwise clogged therein; but by havingthe arrangement specified they are forced in a continuous web smoothlythrough the chute to the boxes below.

The boxes or trays 29 can be of any usual kind, and they are carried onan endless belt 31, which runs horizontally, or substantially so,beneath the chute 28. Near the bottom of the chute 28 and just above thetops of the boxes and on opposite sides thereof are the idle rollers 30,the distance between whichis slightly less than the distance between theopposite ends of the matches, so that as the matches drop or are forcedthrough the chute they will engage .the rollers and will be snuggled upor pushed endWise, so as to drop nicely into the box. Thismovement,being arranged to take place just as the matches are dischargedfrom the chute, is of such an easy nature and causes so little frictionthat there is no danger of igniting the matches. The belt 31 is keptsupplied with trays or boxes 29, and as they are filled they aredischarged at one end of the machine upon a suitable table 32.

It Will be noticed that in the above arrangement the chute 28 is open atthe sides, so that the match-heads project freely, and that thethickness of the chute is only such as to receive one match at any givenpoint. These details are important, as it is largely these details, inconnection With the means for delivering the splints into the chute andfor snuggling them at the bottom, Which constitute my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent-- 1. A machine for boxing matches, comprisingmeans for unwinding a coil of matches, a

chute open at the sides arranged to receive the matches as they aredelivered from the coil, rollers arranged on opposite sides of the chutenear the discharge end thereof to touch the matches and move themendwise, and a boxcarrying belt movable below the chute.

2. The combination With a chute having open sides or edges, of means fordelivering matches in a continuous Web into and through the said chutewith the matches arranged with their heads and butts alternating andwith the heads protruding from both edges of the chute, and means forreceiving the matches as they are discharged from the chute.

3. A machine for boxing matches, comprising a guide-chute constructed toengage the body portions of the matches and leave the heads free, meansfor delivering the matches in a continuous Web into and through thechute With the matches arranged With their heads and butts alternating,and means for receiving the matches as they are discharged from thechute.

WILLIAM H. PARKER.

lVitnesses:

WARREN B. HUTOHINSON, J. G. DUNBAR.

